Miguel Vargas, Andrew Benintendi and Munetaka Murakami homered in the first three innings as the Chicago White Sox began a six-game road trip by pounding the Tampa Bay Rays 6-1 on Friday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Murakami went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs, and Benintendi totaled two hits and a walk. Colson Montgomery hit a two-run shot to round out the club’s four-homer showing.
Starter Erick Fedde (6-6) allowed one run on four hits in five innings. He fanned six.
The American League Central leaders finished July with a 13-12 mark.
Junior Caminero, who walked twice, joined Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena and Brandon Lowe as the only Rays with multiple 30-homer seasons thanks to a massive solo blast, one of the team’s five hits.
Starter Nick Martinez (10-3) was roughed up in six innings for six runs on seven hits, including all four home runs. He struck out two.
The Rays used a 15-12 July mark to maintain their slim lead in the AL East over the New York Yankees.
All seven runs in the matchup were plated by home runs.
After being swept in three games by the Rays in mid-April on the South Side, the White Sox immediately employed a power surge against Martinez.
In the first inning, Vargas swatted the first pitch he saw 433 feet to left field for his 23rd deep ball. Leading off the next frame, Benintendi cranked a 1-2 pitch off the catwalk above right field for his 11th homer, an estimated 405 feet on the towering blow.
The visitors created more separation in the third via the long ball when Murakami provided the pop, going opposite field for a two-run homer to left and a 4-0 advantage.
Caminero launched the night’s deepest missile in the fourth. He rocketed Fedde’s 3-2 pitch, above the strike zone, 453 feet to center off the D-ring, the farthest catwalk in play from home plate.
It was Chicago’s turn to continue the barrage in the sixth as Montgomery became the third hitter to homer off a hanging walkway, striking a support beam above right field for a two-run homer and a 6-1 lead.
Reliever Tyler Schweitzer, who fired three scoreless frames, whiffed pinch hitter Ryan Vilade with two runners on in the eighth in the Rays’ final good scoring chance.
–Field Level Media
